


The Major

by xAlmasyx



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Feelings of Inadequacy, Gen, Lance wants to get his lance out for every woman he sees, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Vague flashbacks, beginning from season 1, no ships as of yet - Freeform, tags will increase as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 21:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17711807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xAlmasyx/pseuds/xAlmasyx
Summary: Major Lenore Falsetto, ex soldier of World War III and recipient of many awards and medals for her service decided that her skills were needed elsewhere after the war was over and decided to become a combat and firearms instructor at the American branch of the Galaxy Garrison.When Shiro and the Holts go missing during the Kerberos mission, the staff of the Garrison resign themselves to never seeing the trio again.But then Shiro arrives back on Earth in an alien escape pod and The Major gets tangled up on a bizzare, larger than life adventure.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's me, ya gal Almasy at it again with another fic when she has many WIPs already!
> 
> Self control? What's that?
> 
> Anyways, whilst this fic will be following canon to a point, at some stage it's gonna veer off into uncharted territory because of the clusterfuck of final seasons ruining all the good possible endings Dreamworks has given us.
> 
> This whole fic is dedicated to my lovely friend Moosh who put up with all my screaming and carrying on when I jumped into the fandom a million years late wearing ugg boots and sipping on a Starbucks moca, chai, no sugar, soy latte. ILY MOOSHIE <3

“Lance, how many times do I have to tell you that patience yields results? Your stance is too slack and your grip on the rifle is too soft. The resulting recoil will injure you.” The teenager only groaned in response to the Major’s criticism, flinching when she adjusted the stock so it was sitting comfortably between his shoulder and right arm. She stood back, sapphire eyes continuing to study her student’s posture with a disapproving click of her tongue. “Left foot forward, spread apart feet to shoulder width. Good. Cheek into the stock like so and ensure your face isn’t too close to the scope, that’s exactly how Hunk got his black eye last week.”

“Hey!” The resulting swift glare caused the entire class standing behind the Major and Lance to sand stock still with arms and their sides and back straight, the teen beside her shuddering from her fearful aura until her ire turned back to him to get back into proper stance.

“Lean forward into your stance ever so slightly with calm breaths and watch your target carefully. This may be but a piece of paper, but think of it as your enemy, study it and fire when-”

_ BOOM _

The over zealous teen once again blew off the arm of the paper target before she could finish her instructions. A deep breath, a count to three and an exhale, the images of a war that passed long ago then faded from her mind.

“We’re done for today.”

 

* * *

 

Observant eyes watched the night sky before her, the twinkling stars, planets and constellations revealing themselves to her in the clearest skies the Earth had ever known, the vast desert surrounding the Galaxy Garrison was free from the toxic emissions of metropolis. It allowed her to dream of space, all the while being completely aware of her ever changing surroundings.

The highest rooftop of the Garrison called to her on these clear evenings where she could stargaze to her heart's content whilst the cadets were assumedly obeying the mandated curfew, though moments earlier she noticed that Lance and Hunk were indulging in the same sight she was a few buildings away. She couldn’t blame the kids, really. The skies were something truly beautiful at night, just waiting to be explored.

There was a shift to her right and she already knew who was on the approach.

“Shiro.” She greeted.

“Major.” He greeted back.

“I told you, after hours it’s just Lenore.”

He tried to look complacent, but nothing escaped her observation. His eyes betrayed his inner turmoil, even though he was meant to be happy to be leaving on the Kerberos mission in the next week. Shiro also knew he’d never be able to escape Lenore’s scrutiny.

“Adam broke up with me.” She wasn’t expecting that, nor was she expecting the fingers that sadly carded through her short black hair, “Am I really that selfish for wanting to go on this mission?”

“No.” She immediately replied, “Your condition is at a manageable state, all relevant supplies will be at your disposal during the mission and you have two very capable team members at your disposal if you were to somehow fall ill during the expedition. The Holt family aren’t idiots, the both of them are absolute geniuses in their own right.

“But I am still sorry that it happened, perhaps he will reach some sort of clarity while you are away and realise how much of a mistake he’s making. If he doesn’t,” She grinned manically, “I’ll throw down with him to preserve your honour!” 

Shiro barked a laugh.

“Keith found out too, but I think he’ll be okay. He has ‘The Major’ to beat some sense into him if he goes awry.” He sat down beside her, both of their legs dangling off the roof. “How goes the family anyways? Last I heard Annabelle was ready to pop.”

“Phoebe, she’s an absolute angel apparently. I beg to differ.” Phone was instantly out to show him one of the many pictures she had of her niece on the device, the one she chose to show, however was of a happy, bald infant in the throes of a violent ‘poosplosion’. Shiro gagged. “Good thing they’re back home in Australia, huh? This would smell like literal shit.”

“Shut up.”

They shared a laugh before enjoying the sky in familial silence.

 

* * *

 

The entire Garrison came to watch the launch of the Kerberos shuttle into the outer reaches of the Solar System. For the first time ever in history the human race will finally transcend the Milky Way Galaxy into far off planets man could only ever dream of. The Major watched intently from the Command Centre, relaying messages of goodwill and safe travels, as well as reminding the three on proper firearm etiquette.

She reminded, mostly to Shiro that Matt and Sam were his responsibility and the threats past their system were completely unknown. Perhaps weaponised or hand to hand combat may be utilised if faced by unidentified hostile lifeforms.

“Good thing I was taught by ‘The Major’ then.” He smiled into the camera of the craft’s cockpit. That earned him a smile back from her and Commander Iverson.

“Be safe out there, all of you. And godspeed.” The three astronauts saluted their commander with a ‘yes sir!’ as he saluted them back. 

“Prepare launch sequence.”    
  


 

Adam never reached that clarity she spoke of, as only months into the mission they lost all communication with Sam, Matt and Shiro and they were all but assumed dead. Keith was expelled from the program shortly after the news went live, but Lenore didn’t give up on the kid for even one second, forcing herself into his life as often as she possibly could.

It was probably one of the only things that allowed Keith to accept himself for who he was later in their journey throughout the cosmos, he’d be too stubborn to admit that to her face until many years later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have a few chapters written out already because I have 100% no chill whatsoever.
> 
> Not gonna upload them all at once because where is the fun in that?

It all happened so quickly.

Shiro’s abrupt return on a stolen alien ship, him being subsequently quarantined on the crash site before Keith barged in closely followed by Pidge, Hunk and Lance and then she helped them escape by pretending they were able to over power her with plans to fetch Shiro later. Keith did nothing short of beg her to let him take the unconscious Shiro and he’d explain everything later. Anyways, it was much easier for her to be punished than having three promising cadets be expelled for whatever reason kidnapping Shiro was. So as a result, Commander Iverson gave her the dressing down of a lifetime.

“How the hell did you, Major Lenore Falsetto, recipient of the Victoria Cross of Australia, Star of Gallantry, the Meritorious Service Medal among other classified commendations and merits, get taken down by four underage cadets?! One of whom has failed your hand to hand combat course several times in the past year!”

She rolled her eyes and shrugged, “I taught Hunk how to successfully apply a rear naked choke, henceforth I present to you exhibit a: choke marks.” A singular finger point to her red neck drew a low growl from her commanding officer.

“You are a goddamn ex serviceman from World War Three, letting these children manhandle you is an utter embarrassment to the personnel of the Galaxy Garrison and I am very disappointed in you.” Okay, that one stung a little. “For one who is always aware of their surroundings, having four teenagers blindside you is shameful at the very least.”

From that point on his words became white noise, Lenore hoped he would finish his rant soon so she could transport the needed materials to Keith’s accommodation to get Shiro up and about once again. 

 

A few hours later she found herself sitting on the roof of Keith’s rundown, wooden shack, staring up into the clear night sky. She’d left the kids to rest with pillows and blankets she’d pilfered from the barracks. Hearing the door below her she sighed and laid back, listening to the footsteps slowly crunch through the dust and sand.

“I never thought the Milky Way would look so damn beautiful.” Shiro spoke after moments of silence.

“You should be resting.”

“I can say the same for you Lenore, have you slept?” The uniform jacket launched from the roof and onto his head was his answer and all he could do was laugh, “You haven’t changed a bit.”

She couldn’t bring herself to ask him what happened while he was gone, the current contentedness of the discussion was more preferable at this moment.

They watched the sunrise together in the companionable silence they were used to until Keith made himself known. 

“It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back.” Shiro smiled, but Keith looked at his brother figure in concern,

“What happened out there? Where… were you?”

Lenore sat up, shuffling down to hang her legs over the roof to listen. She couldn’t see their faces but a simple observation told her that Shiro was struggling to answer the question coherently.

“I wish I could tell you, my head's still pretty scrambled. I was on an… alien ship… and I somehow escaped. It’s all a blur. How did you to come save me when I crashed?” That was something niggling on the Major’s mind as well.  _ Why  _ did Keith come to the quarantine area in the first place? Why the hell did the other three turn up as well?

It probably had something to do with Lance’s inferiority complex, Pidge’s unhealthy obsession with the Kerberos mission and Hunk’s inability to say no. She saw the three up on the roof when the ship crashed, she was up on her usual spot too doing her usual stargazing when this whole kerfuffle begun.

She saw movement, Keith turned to look at her whilst regarding the both of them, “You should both come and see this.”

 

* * *

 

It was truly bizarre and otherworldly watching such unfamiliar carvings become bathed in blue light. It was even more unbelievable to find a giant, blue, mechanical lion being protected by an unfathomable forcefield type element. The six were absolutely mesmerised at the sight.

“We… we should probably report this in.” 

“What?! No way!” Yelled Lance, her glare stopped him in his tracks, “M-Major, ma’am.”

“I think Lance is right, Major,” Begun Shiro, “If we report this in, they’ll just take it to Area-51 where it will never be seen again.” 

“How are we supposed to get past this thing then?” She said, gesturing to the barrier, shield, whatever it was that was surrounding it.

“Maybe we just have to knock on it.” Lance shrugged, raising a fist to knock directly onto it. To their immediate surprise, the barrier burst away into the bright blue light they saw earlier in the cave.

“Well fuck me sideways…” She murmured whilst the other five gasped in surprise,

“Did you all just see that?!” Lance screeched.

“See what?” 

“Oh, ho, ho. Major, Voltron is a massive, mega awesome, mega robot!” Hunk said excitedly,

“And it looks like this is just one piece to it. I wonder where the other four are.”

What exactly did the kids see that she didn’t, she wondered. Whatever it was, she decided it was something that was obviously not meant for her mind’s eye to see.

Almost as if she wasn’t needed.

The lion would proceed to transport the six into a wormhole that lead into deep space, parrying and dodging the terrifying alien cruiser that spotted them the moment they left the Earth’s atmosphere. They escaped unscathed.

The Major closed her eyes. A deep breath, a count to three and an exhale, images of wartime fading from her rattled mind and she held on tight to the back of Lance’s seat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll upload this to my Tumblr later on, I'm feeling sick so I kinda ceebs at the moment.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment and kudos if you like whats going on.
> 
> Comments are love, comments are life.

The Elven looking alien Princess was one thing, the Elven looking redhead with the offensive looking moustache screaming bloody murder about enemy combatants was another thing. 

The Major had him in a sleeper hold in seconds, prepared to cinch it in in a moment’s notice, especially with the way he was wailing in what sounded like a New Zealander’s accent, was grating on her already frayed nerves.

“Quiznak! You’re lucky I had a case of the ol ‘Sleep Chamber Knees’, otherwise you’d be the one on the ground you slimy Unilu sweat sniffer!” 

“I… I’m a what?” There wasn’t time for her to go through her usual calming routine as the white haired, blue eyes, tanned Princess, known as Allura, gasped aloud.

“Coran, we’ve been asleep for ten thousand years!” The Major released her hold on the so called ‘Coran’, allowing him to get up and approach his Princess in surprise.

The human race was far from being ten thousand years old… What were these people?

“Planet Altea and all of the planets in our Solar System have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone…”

The subsequently confirmed friendlies told their story of their now destroyed planet, Altea, being attacked and subsequently destroyed by the Galra Emperor Zarkon. The building they were in, known as the Castle of Lions was used to house all 5 lions of Voltron, but were sent away to secret locations when the attack begun, with only the black lion being hidden within the futuristic castle’s depths and inaccessible until the other lions were reunited. The castle was then sent away with Allura and Coran’s bodies locked in sleep pods to a faraway planet, the planet Arus.

It was believed that a mass genocide of her people happened in the subsequent ten thousand years after Altea’s destruction and that left a sour taste on the Major’s tongue. Such devastating destruction reminded her of all the battles she thought in the past and all the bloodshed she herself and other combatants caused in the name of peace and prosperity.

“This Zarkon…” Shiro mused, “I remember now, I was his prisoner!” Allura responded with a gasp and a look of incredulity.

“It’s been ten thousand years, how is he still alive?!”

“I don’t know, but it’s true. He’s looking for that superweapon called Voltron.”

Looking upon an alien civilisation, anything was possible, the six humans supposed. For all they knew there were alien species out there that were millions of years old. But now was not the time to ruminate on that, as the Princess called for their attention.

“He’s searching for it because he knows that it’s the only thing that can defeat him. And I refuse to let him get his hands on it, we must find all the lions before he does and take back Voltron.”

 

* * *

 

Whilst eating what Hunk affectionately called ‘food goo’ and the Major silently named ‘space snot’, Shiro cleared his throat to catch the attention of everyone in the dining hall. “I think we should take this chance to properly introduce ourselves after that little scuffle earlier.”

“That sounds like a pleasant idea!” Piped up Coran, clapping his hands together. “I suppose we should go first. I am Coran Hieronymus Wimbledon Smythe, advisor and friend to the Altean Royal Family, and this is our Princess, Allura.” Allura bowed her head politely.

“It is indeed a pleasure to meet you all, after that… misunderstanding.” All eyes were on the Major and she shrugged, shoving another piece of the dubious food goo in her mouth.

“Yes, of course.” Shiro said, “Anyway, my name is Shiro,” He then gestures to the others, “This is Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Major Lenore Falsetto.” They all wave in greeting with the Major piping up unexpectedly,

“Apologies about the stranglehold Coran, but I gotta do what I can to protect my kids.”

He nodded, more understanding than what she gave him credit for, considering that they met mere moments ago.

“It’s quite alright, I’d have done the same if the Princess’ safety were to be compromised. By the way, why is it only you that has a designation?”

The Major laughed, smugly but proudly. “Fifteen years of military training and service including when I joined the Galaxy Garrison. I managed several infiltration, information gathering, extraction and front line squadrons and gained the Major position thusly during World War Three.” She heaved a sigh, briefly thinking on those times before she continued, “Nowadays I train the cadets in firearms, hand to hand combat and weaponised combat; some of those cadets being Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge. Shiro, on the other hand is a badass fighter pilot with the determination to match.” She finished off with a proud grin when suddenly alarms blared.

“What the hell is that?!” Lance screeched as a screen popped up before them and the Major stood abruptly at attention. Whatever the hell that ship was that appeared on the screen was not good news, and it was confirmed when Allura told them that it was a Galra cruiser.

A deep breath, a silent count to three and an exhale; the chilling reminders of alarms sounding off, bombs dropping and firearms discharging rounds rapidly fading from the Major’s mind’s eye. Now was not the time for a flashback, there was work to be done.

 

* * *

 

It seemed as though Allura was the key to locate the remaining lions, she was also the key to assigning whom was piloting which lion. The Major merely sighed when the Altean gave her a look of apology, there were only five lions but there were six humans.

Red was Keith.

Yellow was hunk.

Blue was Lance.

Green was Pidge.

And black was Shiro.

“My apologies, Major.” Allura spoke, placing a hand on her shoulder. It was petty, but Lenore felt unneeded at that very moment, but her face never gave away those intrusive thoughts.

“It’s fine,” She shrugged off the Princess’ hand, “I’ll just ensure the kids keep up to speed with their combat training.” Three groans and ‘aw man’s’ were heard from Pidge, Hunk and Lance whilst Shiro and Keith crossed their arms with a smile. “Sorry, but you can’t always rely on a giant mecha lion thing to solve all your problems.”

“It totally could.” Hunk grumbled with a pout.

“Ugh, physical exertion.” Complained Pidge.

“I was the best sharp shooter in the Garrison anyway.” Lance bragged, causing the Major to scoff quietly. “What?!”

“No… just no, kiddo. No one in the Garrison has gotten anywhere near beating my scores and you know it.”

“Unrealistic expectations!” 

“If you had paid attention in classes better then perhaps you’d meet my expectations!”

“Alright you two, that’s enough!” Shiro cut in, being the responsible adult out of the two of them. “We don’t have time for this. The Galra are due to arrive in two days, and the wormholes that Princess Allura can open for us will only stay open for two hours. We need to use our time wisely.”

A grin from the Major, “Alright kids, it’s showtime. Make sure you warm up before you leave, do some stretches. We have no idea what’s out there that can and will kill you which means you need to be ready for any and all combat situations. Lance, take Hunk on the blue lion to go get the yellow, Shiro go with Pidge to collect the green and Keith will stay with me and we will depart the moment the red lion is located.”

“Sounds good to me.” Shiro agreed.

“Good plan. Shiro, Pidge, come with me and I’ll get you in a pod to transport you to the general location of the green lion.” Said Coran and Allura stayed back on the bridge to prepare the weapons and shield systems for the Castle, though the Major followed Coran, Shiro and Pidge to the hangar and waited for the two to depart before asking Coran a very important question.

“Hey Coran, what do you have in the way of guns around here?”

The resulting shit eating grin from the red head made her spine tingle in excitement. This extraction mission was going to be the tits.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been a bit slack in updating this even though I still have two more chapters after this ready on Google Docs to go =/  
> Sorry about that!
> 
> I've also been a bit slack about putting the chapters on Tumblr, but I have been a bit turned off the website since the purge, so I will end up doing it eventually. Today is just not that day, lmao.
> 
> You'll find a lot of canon script in here mixed in with my original crap. Gotta keep it somewhat canon. >_>
> 
> I'm interstate visiting a friend at the moment but I have gotten the drafts of 7 & 8 pretty much almost done which is a plus. I have a red eye flight back home tonight so I dunno if I'll keep working on it or attempt to sleep on a cramped budget airline plane (Please press F, I'm stuck in the middle seat of my row ;_;).
> 
> Anyways, enough rambling. Please enjoy, comment and leave kudos, it's like crack to me.

It wasn’t long after the yellow and green lions were secured and back at the Castle when the eight received a transmission from the Galra ship. The Major looked upon the purple skinned, cat-like alien on the screen with an eyebrow raised, crossing her arms over her chest. First the Alteans, and now the Galrans have completely changed her perceptions on what alien life looked like. 

Perhaps she just watched Independence Day way too many times to form an adequate opinion on the matter.

She noticed he had some sort of cybernetic enhancement to his right eye. Considering they were the superior race in the current universe it made her wonder why he underwent such an invasive operation. She’d later learn that this Sendak also had a terrifying enhancement implemented on his left arm, but it would end up merely giving her more determination to eliminate his threat.

"Princess  Allura , this is Commander  Sendak of the  Galra Empire . I come on behalf of Emperor  Zarkon , Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the Lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet."

The transmission immediately cut off and the eight frowned. It was time to plan the oncoming mission and the lack of intel about the Galra made Lenore uneasy, it was ingrained into her to learn about the unknown from all of her years of training but it was easy enough to infiltrate and perform information gathering on fellow humans. An alien, way above the stratosphere orbiting the planet in their craft was a whole new ballpark for her.

She was lost in thought, the conversation/argument going on before her fell upon deaf ears as she began thinking of possible infiltration routes and battle tactics based on what little was known about their cruiser and the lions they currently had in their possession and working. 

It was pretty much a waste of her time. Information gathering had to be executed on the job which meant they would be going in blind. The only thing known is that the red lion was on Sendak’s ship which meant they had to get Keith on there.

Allura had left the bridge with Coran and came back some twenty-five minutes later with a new look of determination on her face, and the beginnings of a plan were made.

She took them to the Castle’s armoury, five suits of armour, red, yellow, green, blue and black stood before them ready for their new Paladins to don them.

“My apologies, Major.” Allura offered with sympathy, “I cannot offer you a suit of armour similar to that of the Paladins.” The Major clicked her tongue.

“Any suits that can get me out there?”

“Yes of course, but having armour is imperative-”

“It is unnecessary.” She cut off the Princess, “I’ve never used armour before, I don’t need it now. I’m going up there with my kids.” Allura scowled at her and the Paladins were hardly surprised at her determination to pitch in and ensure the safety of her students and subordinates.

“V- very well then.” It was obvious to all involved that the Princess wasn’t used to being spoken back to in such a manner, what with the look of shock that they were all graced with, but the Major was in work mode and nothing was going to stop her until the mission was over. They had no time to waste and arguing any point she made was out of the question.

The Paladins were dressed in their armour in no time and Lenore in the off white, figure hugging space suit she was given that gave way more attention to her hard earned muscles than needed. She almost felt naked in the clothing compared to the others who at least had plates protecting their most vulnerable areas, all she had was some insulated padding on her shoulders, breasts, elbows and knees and the empty holsters on her hips waited for the guns that Coran supplied her with earlier.

“Holy crow!” Lance gasped, “The Major has never skipped leg day in her life!” All eyes on her, looking her up and down with varying degrees of shock and respect. It wasn’t a surprise, however, since the only person in the group who had seen her in civilian clothing was Shiro, with the teenagers only ever seeing her in her Garrison fatigues. Though the way her muscle definition stood out in her suit more than what she was used to, she would get used to it if it meant that future operations will be a success.

“You really wouldn’t want an unfit combat instructor, would you, Lance?” She smirked, placing her hands on her hips questioningly. He agreed silently.

 

* * *

 

As it turns out, the Paladins could sense the presence of their respective lions, which meant it would be easy enough to map out the Sendak’s ship during infiltration. The lion should direct Keith straight to it with no hassle. The underlying issue would be the infiltration method. The Galrans had no idea that Pidge had the green lion which was an advantage; obtaining the yellow lion however was met with hostile resistance so they knew that said lion was in their possession.

“First things first, we need Keith on that ship.” The Major spoke as Allura brought up an interactive hologram in front of them, showing the blue, yellow and green lions upon the Castle and the red lion trapped in Sendak’s ship. “We know nothing of our enemy apart from the fact that they will most likely kill us regardless of whether they obtain the lions or not.”

“Perhaps with should fein passiveness in order to gain intelligence.” Shiro suggested, “We say we’re surrendering the blue and yellow lions and while Sendak is distracted with that, the green lion sneaks Keith aboard the ship.” It was an unstable plan at best, but it was probably one of the only ones viable at the time. Lenore agreed almost immediately.

“We will then execute the following: Lance, Hunk, you are to approach the ship first under the pretence of surrender whilst Keith, Shiro and myself will go with Pidge in the green lion, sneak around and enter through what we will assume to be the hull. We will be Keith’s backup in the ship whilst he locates the red lion.”

“That’s all well and good.” Said Hunk, “But what are you going to do when Sendak works out that we’re just there to bamboozle him? I’m not in the mood to become space garbage if it's all the same to you!” 

“You two are to distract the enemy until we successfully extract the red lion and gain whatever intelligence we can on the Galra.” An eyebrow was raised as the two boys gulped in unison. They were under-prepared for the mission, that’s for sure. But they would have the guidance of their lions, Coran and Allura back on the Castle and also herself via intercom if any advice was needed. She wasn’t trained in open air fighting, but she would at least be their level head if either of them begin to give in to their fear and anxieties. 

In the end, four of five Paladins were just children who had never seen the reality of battle. It would be a real eye opener for them and she would be there to ensure their mental fortitude stayed strong.

A selfish part of her told her it was so she wouldn’t be useless in a war against aliens and five mecha lions piloted by anyone but her that turned into a weapon of mass destruction. She  _ needed  _ to feel needed.

“Alright team, operation ‘Bamboozle the Cat Man’ is go!”

  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna upload this one over the weekend, but it seems as though my body is being a massive dick and I have fractured my ribs.
> 
> So I'm gifting my lovely readers this whilst I recover because typing away on the laptop hurts, merely just thinking about existing hurts right now, lmao.

Getting onto Sendak’s cruiser was a lot easier than the Major had anticipated. She had expected alarms to blare the moment Pidge begun to cut into the ship’s outer layers; it was a very severe oversight in their defences, in her opinion and she took mental note of this weakness for later use.

They waited for the robotic sentries to pass before making their way out into the hallway.

Shiro remembered being on this exact ship prior to escaping and that piqued Pidge’s interest immediately.

“That means your crew members may be on this ship, we may be able to save them!” Shiro disagreed whilst Lenore and Keith were looking out for hostiles gun and bayard drawn.

“We don’t have time for that, we’re here to get the red lion and get out.” He said back to Pidge dismissively and they were having none of it. Meanwhile Keith and Lenore were having their own discussion.

“That’s not your handgun.” Keith pointed out to her taking a slick, black gun out of one of the holsters strapped to her leg, the Major grinned in response.

“Coran gave me a couple of new shinies.” She pointed the holster that held a small, white, rifle looking device. “They shoot mother fucking lazers. I’m one step closer to achieving my ultimate dream of owning sharks that shoot frickin lazer beams out of their frickin heads.”

Keith appraised both weapons with a smirk, the reference completely going over his head. “Nice.”

“Commander Holt is my father!” Pidge’s yell cut off, “He and my brother were with you on the Kerberos mission, we have to save them!” Shiro and Keith were shocked into silence. The Major was nonplussed. She had her suspicions about ‘Pidge Gunderson’, but it wasn’t on her to impose, it was more relieving to know that her suspicions were not unfounded.

“If there is a possibility of them being on this ship then I am going to look for them, with or without your help!”

“Hold on now-” Shiro tried to placate,

“Shiro go with Pidge. Keith and I will be fine.” All he gave was a fleeting look of concern before turning to Pidge.

“I remember where the holding cells are. Major, Keith, make sure you’re contactable so we can leave when Keith gets to the lion. Pidge, lets go.”

“Remember not to engage unless it is absolutely necessary.” The Major reminded Shiro. He responded with a quick ‘got it’ and lead Pidge in the direction of the brig. The Major turned to Keith with a smile. “Let's get to it.”

“Yes sir!”

 

* * *

 

The Galra sentries were robotic in design, scouting the halls with no falter in their steps as the Major and Keith traversed by them numerous times without being detected. They were yet to come across any organic creatures and it was making the pair antsy and Keith make many directional mistakes.

“We’re just going around in damn circles!” He near shouted, slamming his fist against the wall. The Major sighed.

“What did Shiro always say to you when you start to lose it?”

“I…” Keith’s brows furrowed, “Patience yields focus.”

“Correct.” She praised with a thumbs up, “I’ll keep lookout, try to focus on the lion’s location.”

“Understood.” Keith closed his eyes and the Major looked beyond their current position. It was deathly silent apart from the hum of the cruiser’s engines, there were no footsteps to be heard in any direction but she wouldn’t let up for even a moment. Relaxing in enemy territory would often prove fatal, and she’d do everything in her power to ensure the teen with her would stay safe.

To her surprise, it didn’t take long for Keith to focus enough to zero in on the lion’s location and they were off down the halls once again, but this time in the right direction.

After many twists, turns and slipping past patrols they made it to a large metal door guarded by two of the robotic soldiers they saw earlier. 

“There must be a way to distract them.” Keith murmured as they hid around a corner.

“Negative. For all we know they’re connected to the security system in the ship. We need to assume an alarm will be tripped the moment they notice us.” The Major unzipped one of the pockets on her holster strapped to her right leg, bringing out what looked like a silencer and screwed it on to the end of the barrel. Her lips pulled into a sadistic grin when Keith gave her a dubious look.

“The fact that frickin lazers have silencers have made my day so much better.” Her grin widened, she was completely in her element and she was loving every second of it. “Listen to me carefully now Keith, because this is something imperative for you to learn, considering our current circumstances.” Her face turned serious and she had Keith’s full attention. “I know you don’t need me to remind you that this is not a simulation, but I will say so anyways to convey how important this is. This is life or death.

“In operations like this, you need to study your enemy very carefully. We know next to nothing about these Galra, even less about the robots that are our current targets. Whilst we don’t have much time, I need you to study them carefully and tell me where I need to shoot and I will determine if that is the best course of action.”  

“R-right. And if it’s wrong?” At least he was willing to ask.

“I shoot what I believe is the correct ‘artery’ so to speak, and you learn something new.” ‘Given that we make it out of here alive, that is.’ The Major refused to add on, now was not the time or place.

The two of them peeked around the corner, seeing that the robots had not even moved a millimetre from when they were first spotted. A sigh of relief was breathed out before she focused on the figures before them. They were heavily armoured beings, shooting the neck was completely out as the armour surrounding them looked way too thick and sturdy and she preferred to get them down in two single shots. Both the chest and face plates emitted a purple light, meaning the main mechanics would most likely be in one of those locations.

She decided quickly and took aim, it looked like Keith had also made his decision.

“Head.”

“Why head?”

“The chest is another possible target, but you run the risk of not completely taking out it’s mechanisms there. If you shoot the head there goes their visual and hopefully their ability to set off the security system.” 

“Good answer.” Aiming carefully, she fired two shots in a split second, completely piercing the metal of both heads and the hunks of Galran metal fell to the floor with a loud ‘clang’, no alarms, no movement from the robots. They’d have to move quickly to the lion and escape before any backup had a chance to arrive. “Alright, quick. Let’s go get this lion of yours.”

“Gotcha.” They moved hastily to the door, stepping carefully over their felled enemies. The Major was still sceptical that such a superior alien race would have such primitive security. It looked like one could only access this room with some sort of key-pass or code, Keith was completely on top of it by dragging one of the robots over and slamming it’s palm on the pad. It worked, at least, and the pair came face to face with the red lion surrounded by a barrier.

...that wouldn’t let Keith in.

“Come on buddy, open up. It’s me, Keith, you know… your Paladin?” He knocked on the barrier with his fist. Nothing happened. “Come on! I. AM. YOUR. PALADIN!” A boot to the barrier also did nothing. 

“Keith…” The Major piped up, raising her gun to point at the door of the hangar, hearing rushed clanging of metal.

“You little… just open up!”

“Keith…” She aimed at their head height, preparing to be assaulted by several armed targets.

“You piece of shi-”

“KEITH! HOSTILES!” He turned around just in time to shield himself from oncoming fire, the Major rushes behind the shield whilst rapidly firing rounds into their heads. She counted eight of them, but now that they were in hostile mode she couldn’t take them down in a single shot. They were a lot more resilient when in active battle.

“Major stay behind me!” Keith suddenly yelled, bringing out his bayard that instantly turned into a sword. She followed in step with him, re-holstering her gun to throw every robot out of the way that Keith indisposed. The issue was, the enemies were honing in on their location and they were becoming overwhelmed fast. The Major didn’t have anything to shield herself with which meant she had to stay directly behind Keith to avoid enemy fire, and with every enemy that was brought down it felt like they were being replaced with two more.

“Keith, we need to find a way to retreat!” She yelled over the multitude of lazers being shot at them.

“They are not getting this lion!” He yelled back, dragging her over to the air lock button. “Hold on to me, this ain't gonna be pretty!” And so she did, tightly and he slammed his fist on the button. The airlock opened straight away with a _clang_ , the overwhelming difference in gravity dragging all the active hostiles into space. But with the added weight of the Major, Keith could not hold on for long and the both of them were also flung out into space.

All the Voltron Paladins heard over their comms at that very moment was a grown woman and a teen male scream bloody murder.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is the last chapter I had pre written mostly before I screwed my ribs up. The rest of it I had written in a notebook on the plane to Perth (which was over a week ago now, I miss my friend T_T) and I've been able to bend over my laptop long enough without hurties so here it is!
> 
> Expect updates to be a little slow. I did get KH3 for my birthday which I am attempting to play and finish before DMCV comes out on Friday.
> 
> I have been waiting 11 years for this game. Once I play it, my life will be complete, lmao.

“These things are fucking sentient… I can’t believe this, they’re sentient and this guy just followed us out into the fucking space void and swallowed us whole! I must be going crazy, this is a nightmare I must have forgottenmymedication yesterday and now I’m h-a-h-aving motherfucking fever dreams with aliens, wormholes, SENTIENT FUCKING ROBOT LIONS-”

“Major…”

“I’ve finally cracked, Fever Dream Keith! I’ve gone absolutely bonkers, I was taking everythingsoseriously for a moment but now I’ve r-r-realised how ri-fucking-diculous this all is! I should have said yes to that fuckingtherapydog, Penny her name was beautiful dog-”

“Major, hold up…”

“Keith, she’s lost it.”

“Purple and blue goddamn aliens that look like CATS, WHY IS EVERYTHING IN SPACE CAT THEMED?!”   
  
“Shut up Lance, not helping!”

“And the humanoid alien p-p-princess woman with a New Zealander ginger-nut to wait and on her hand and foot! And he gave mefuckinglazers LAZERS-”

“Keith, once you’re a safe distance away from the cruiser you need to calm her down.”

“Yeah I kinda got that, Shiro. But she’s kinda off the deep end right now!”

“Maybe get her back on Arus and out of the lion. Just a suggestion.”

“Easier said than done, Pidge. Major- Major let go of me!”

“THEY’RE FUCKING SENTIENT, FEVER DREAM KEITH!”

“MAJOR LENORE FALSETTO STAND DOWN AT ONCE!”

Keith finally drew the line at the Major reaching over his seat to shake at his shoulders and scream in his ears deliriously. With that she finally backed down, falling to her knees and heaving stuttered breaths onto the back of the seat. If he turned around that moment he’d see her folding into herself as she crossed her arms around her body with her fingernails digging into her biceps in an attempt to ground herself.

After all that’s transpired in the last day, it was being launched into space and having the red lion finally activate and save their asses that finally made her crack. In the couple of years he had known her, he’d never seen her go off the rails so severely. He doubted that she had been this bad since she had finished her duty to the army in the war.

He was used to her suffering in silence if her PTSD acted up.

“I can’t- I can’t- I can’t- cantcantcant.”

Keith grit his teeth in frustration, skilfully weaving the lion out of the cruiser’s firing range in order to meet up with the others.

“You made it!” Hunk cheered over the comms.

“Of course we did.” He replied flatly.   


“Guys, this is no time to dally.” Interjected Keith from Pidge’s lion, “We need to get the Major back on land and me to the black lion as soon as possible.”

The group unanimously agreed on that before Keith momentarily got up to check on the Major. She was an absolute mess with her helmet ripped off and fingers painfully digging into her scalp, chest heaving heavy breaths. She’d stopped the incoherent mumbling at least, but she barely responded to his silent probing. All the more reason to get back onto the planet’s surface.

Keith left first with Pidge and Shiro close behind, with Shiro adamant to be by the Major’s side as soon as he was able. 

Hunk looked up to the ion cannon he damaged on Sendak’s cruiser he damaged whilst the aforementioned four were infiltrating the ship, his face contorted in concern.

“I hope I stopped that cannon, I barely made a dent in it!”

“Hey!” Lance, began to argue, “You did good, buddy!”

The two of them descended alongside the red and green lions moments later.

 

* * *

 

Shiro held Lenore tightly to his chest, bridal style, as the Paladins reentered the Castle’s bridge. Allura and Coran looked absolutely overjoyed at the fact that all five Voltron lions were now in their possession that they almost missed the concerned aura surrounding Shiro as Lenore fought to even out her breaths.

It was Coran to first notice something was wrong.

“Shiro? Is the Major alright…?” He asked, approaching with care, “What happened up there?”

“Her breathing is laboured, is she injured?” Allura queried directly after Coran.

“Just a war veteran-” Lenore breathed in deeply, releasing an arm from Shiro’s hold to give a half-hearted thumbs up, “experiencing a good ol’ fashioned panic attack,” and then a shaky smile, “no biggie.”

“Coran, where are Lenore’s clothes? There’s medication in one of her pockets that can help her.”

Ah Shiro, the classic MVP of valium fetching.

The other Paladins finally caught up from Shiro bolting from the red lion’s hangar, surrounding him and Lenore in concern; it caused her to immediately tense in his arms.

“Guys, don’t crowd her, not right now.” He looked at Coran expectantly.

“Ah yes, we have assigned everyone with a room. Please follow me!”

They were taken to her quarters, a sterile looking room covered in off white steel walls, a small desk backed up against the back wall and a single made bed with pristine white sheets hidden in an alcove on the left side of the room. It was there that Coran had placed Lenore’s neatly folded Garrison fatigues with her standard issue pistol sitting on top of it. Shiro sat her down on the bed, kneeling to take her hands in his, they were still uncontrollably trembling.

“Which pocket?” He asked before her overwhelmed mind would take her elsewhere,

“Uh… inner left breast pocket, I think.” She responded softly, eyes frantically darting around his hands engulfing hers. She finally had time to study the alien prosthetic that the Galra replaced his organic arm with, it was almost completely silver with dips and rivets that signalled that the arm was capable of much more than what her first impressions were of it.

Just what did Shiro experience whilst he was their prisoner?

“Lenore.” His organic hand waved in front of her face, the telltale rattle of her medication gracing her ears. Her head snapped to attention immediately. “Coran got some water so take one and keep on trying those breathing exercises. I need to go and see the black lion.”

She did was she was told with a single nod, taking a single pill and putting it in her mouth and washing it down with the water Shiro promptly handed to her.

“Shiro.” She spoke, making herself comfortable on the bed, eyes not once leaving her sorely missed subordinate.

“What is it?” He replied, standing up to leave.

“Sorry. For- you know… flipping it, going a little ape shit, I suppose.” Her head hit the pillow with a hollow  _ thud _ , Shiro smiled, empathetic with her situation.

“I’ve been scared out of my damned mind ever since the Galra took us hostage if I were to be completely honest with you.”

She looked at him owlishly, “Really?” But she reminded herself, even though she couldn’t see Shiro suffering on the outside, the telltale signs and look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. “-Just like war, huh? You truly never feel it until you’re finally out of danger.”

And this… this was looking like the beginning of a new war, for them, for Coran and Allura and for the four teenagers with them who have never experienced any severe discourse in their lives.

“Yeah…” Shiro paused at the door, “Rest up Lenore, and feel better soon.”

“Yeah, thanks Shiro. Go and kick some Galra ass for me!”

Shiro left with a quiet laugh, leaving Lenore to her slowing thoughts. She was over the worst of the attack and was finally able to begin breathing evenly once more; the valium quickly kicking in also helped.

She closed her eyes, a bizarre feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. Everything that has happened in the past twenty-four or so hours had been bizarre in and of itself, and it scared her how quickly she was able to tune out all else to become The Major once again to make sure ‘her kids’ completed the mission with minimal casualties.

You could take The Major out of the military, but not the military out of The Major, she supposed. 

The valium had finally kicked in enough where she could lull herself into a dreamless sleep. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see my friends!
> 
> I jumped down the rabbit hole of KH3 and DMC5 and I have emerged with so many feels that I don't know what to do with myself. Ah well, I had half of this chapter sort of handwritten for a while and last week I decided to finally finish it. Then I finally typed it up tonight and it's 6 Google doc pages of getting shit done!
> 
> Weeeeeeeew! I hope ya'll didn't miss me too much!
> 
> I don't remember if I mentioned this, but as of me coming back from holidays on Feb 27th I became full time at my work instead of part time. Those extra 8 hours a week really drain a guy, I didn't really realise how much free time I had at the end of my days until I started full time and lost all that. It just means my updates wont really be as consistent as I'd like them to be because sleep takes priority over everything, lmao.
> 
> As always, enjoy!

Lenore never heard the five lions roar as one as Shiro was accepted by the black lion, but she certainly heard the Castle’s alarms blaring in her room as it woke her back up with a stunned screech.

She shot out of bed immediately, mind instantaneously going into work mode. She grabbed her pistol and ensured it was loaded to prepare herself for any sort of surprise attack or infiltration; her chest heaved as adrenaline coursed through her veins.

“Oh quiznak!” She heard Coran’s voice… curse? over the PA system before hearing him clear his throat, “Apologies if that woke you Major, it’s just that-”

“Sendak’s cruiser is descending into the Arusian atmosphere!” Allura cut in with panic, “We need Voltron now!” 

The Major breathed in deeply, held for five seconds and then exhaled, ignoring the screaming of dozens inside her head. This was not then, this was now.

She quickly changed from the spacesuit to her Garrison fatigues, filching the leg holsters from the suit to hold her new toys, courtesy of Coran. She had to be ready for any and all battle prospects. She exited her room swiftly, taking the corridors she recognised Shiro taking them down to her room originally but was shaken suddenly from the Castle taking some kind of impact.

“Fuck-” She cursed, regaining her footing to break out into a run. She made it to the bridge in mere minutes just to see that the cannon that Hunk damaged barely an hour and a half ago fully repaired and charging another shot. She could hear the shocked gasps from the kids comms in their lions and Hunk’s groan of disdain.

“Man those Galra guys repair things fast.” He said.

“No fuckin’ shit.” Replied The Major.

“Lenore-” Spoke Shiro.

“Major!” The others responded with surprise.

“It’s Major right now, Shiro.” The Major deadpanned, “we are now in an unknown battle sequence. Coran, Allura, tell us what you know.” She crossed her arms over her chest, watching the Princess and Coran recovered from their shock of seeing her back in action so quickly.

“U-uh, right!” Stammered Coran, “Well, the barrier we put up gets weaker with every blast. Once that shield goes down the Castle will be defenseless!”

“Not what I want to hear…” The Major grumbled and Allura blanched at her curtness.

“I can keep the barrier up as long as my power allows it, but you have to form Voltron now or we will all be destroyed!”

The Major glared at Allura’s lack of tact, Hunk said exactly what she was thinking with a sarcastic ‘no pressure’. She turned her attention back to Sendak’s cruiser the moment Coran gasped out; the ion cannon had fired once again, further weakening the barrier before she had the time to yell ‘brace’.

Shiro said a few words of comfort to the other Paladins, after a pep talk and a few laughs the lions finally left their hangars, taking to the air swiftly to try and stop the ion cannon from firing once again.

The Major, Coran and Allura could do nothing but watch on as the cruiser released countless fighter crafts to counter the lion’s attacks; the five Paladins ruminating on how to form Voltron whilst destroying every one they could with minimal damage to the land below.

Raising an eyebrow in thought, The Major turned to Coran, looking at him curiously. “What does Voltron look like anyways?”

The question seemed to spark the red-head’s innermost passion of all things mechanical and she swore his eyes were sparkling with delight.

“What a fantastic question, Major!” Yep… those were literal sparkles in the Altean’s eyes, “Voltron is a tall standing warrior where all five Paladins work together in complete harmony as the ‘Defender of the Universe’. King Alfor made something truly awe inspiring when he created Voltron.”

“So do all the lions meld together to form some sort of mega lion… or?”

“Oh no, no, no. It looks more like you or me, just a thousand times larger, heavier, sharper and made of metal.”

“Right…” She murmured, turning her attention back to the battle; the lions having yet to form Voltron.

“Paladins, please hurry! I cannot hold on much longer!” Implored Allura, who was draining her energy into the Castles reserves with abandon. The Major couldn’t imagine how much such a feat would be tiring her.

“Maybe we should try flying in formation.” Shiro suggested, “take off on my cue. One, two, three!”

They watched as the lions flew in a colour coded formation towards the cruiser and The Major felt a sudden onslaught of inexplicable dread. And her gut feeling stood true the moment the cruiser emitted a purple beam of light that began to pull the lions directly towards it. It seemed as though the Paladins also noticed their predicament.

“What the cheese?!” Exclaimed lance over the comms.

“That’s cheating!” Yelled Hunk.

“It’s a fucking tractor beam.” Mumbled The Major in Dr. Evil’s accent, disbelief washing over her.

“Sendak’s ship is sucking us in like a black hole!” Cried Pidge, the plight of the Paladins completely distracting The Major, Coran and Allura from the incoming beam of ion energy; it’s blast completely destroying the shield and the resulting impact sent the three to their knees.

It suddenly hit The Major as the Paladins screamed in despair, Coran’s earlier words ringing in hear ears.

_ Harmony _

“Shiro, can you hear me?”

“Yes Major, loud and clear.”

“You all need to work in harmony with each other. Voltron needs unity to successfully form.”

“Copy that.” Shiro responded with the confidence needed to convince her that the Paladins could all work together, once they all got out of the mindset that they were all going to die, that was.

“It’s been an honour flying with you guys.” Keith said.

“Oh no!” Cried Hunk.

“No!” Shiro cut them off just in time. “We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can’t give up, we are the universe’s only hope. Everyone is counting on us to succeed, The Major, Princess Allura, Coran and all the citizens of Arus. We  _ will _ form Voltron if we work together as one.”

The Major smirked in approval at Shiro’s motivational speech; he was only two years younger than her but he connected with the teens so much more than she could ever do.

“Oh no!” Allura gasped, pointing at the recharging ion cannon. The Major bristled with gritted teeth.

“Shit- Shiro, Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, you’ve got this. Do it now!” She yelled, garnering an affirmative ‘right!’ from the Paladins as they moved into formation once again.

Bright lights surrounded the lions in unison and it looked like each one was transforming into different appendages; two arms, two legs, a torso with attached head that unfolded out of nowhere. It was an amazing sight watching them all come together into one giant, multicoloured, humanoid mecha.

_ ‘Or a Gundam.’  _ Her TV show riddled brain reminded her ‘ _ A Gundam that actually bloody exists.’ _

Hell, this even reminded her of a magical girl transformation sequence, but she’d share that thought to the others later. Allura and Coran wouldn’t understand the reference.

The Paladins all cheered over the astounding success and The Major was certain that many mental high fives were being had as they celebrated the successful first formation of Voltron. Bit first…

“Paladins, celebrate later. The ion cannon is recharging and we need cover, go and destroy it!”

With a chorus of ‘right’ from the five pilots Voltron proceeded to grab the ion cannon and, with tremendous force, rip it clean off of the cruiser and pelting it far away. The Major, Allura and Coran all gasped in surprise when it next punched into the hull of the ship and shot a devastating lazer beam straight through it, causing a large explosion powerful enough to even shake the Castle.

“This… this is not another PTSD episode, is it Coran?” The Major asked lowly, entirely too calm for it to be anything of the sort.

“Gladly not, Major. This is the power of Voltron.”

Speaking of Voltron, it had disappeared inside of the cruiser to completely gut it if the random explosions throughout the craft gave anything away. She felt conflicted at that moment. Whilst it was absolutely necessary to destroy the cruiser in order to guarantee their safety, was the mass bloodshed really necessary?

How would the kids react when they realise they’ve caused the deaths of every being left on that ship, enemy or not?

She made a mental note to approach them individually later.

Allura and Coran gasped out in fascination and awe as Voltron reemerged from the damn near destroyed ship, only to turn around and run itself straight through it with determined screams, the resulting explosion completely decimating the cruiser and causing debree to rain down onto the ground below.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit.”

This was kino as fuck.

 

* * *

 

The absolutely buggered Paladins met The MAjor, Allura and Coran at the front entrance of the Castle, all looking in various stages of exhaustion.

“Good work Paladins!” Allura congratulated.

“Thanks pretty lady!” Flirted Lance, earning him a glare from his superior officer, though her eyes immediately warmed up to regard all of them, even the slightly dejected looking Pidge.

“Team, that was absolutely amazing!” She praised.

“Hell yeah it was, we did it!” Keith said proudly.

“But how did we really do it?” Asked Shiro and Hunk shrugged.

“Dunno, I was just, like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it.”

“Oh man, big mood there!” Lance added in, “I screamed my damn throat raw!”

Shiro had approached Pidge, placing his hand on her small shoulder and giving her a knowing look. Her father and brother must not have been with those prisoners they went and rescued earlier; the Holts were still missing.

“We’re not going to stop searching until we find your brother and father. Wherever they are, I know they’d be proud of you.” That got a small smile out of her.

“We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I’m afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions.”

Ah right, that guy.

“Good thing you Paladins know what you’re doing because you’re going to have to form Voltron again and again!” Coran sounded so excited as he rubbed his fuzzy moustache between his thumb and forefinger.

“Totally!” Hunk prematurely agreed, “-wait, what?”

The Major coughed back a laugh.

“We barely survived forming Voltron this one time!” Complained Lance and Coran grinned at him mischievously.

“And you only had to fight one ship this time around. Wait until you fight a whole fleet of them! It’s not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe!”

Shiro and The Major looked at each other in understanding. That was a huge responsibility to suddenly pin onto a group of teenagers who never witnessed the gruelling ins and outs of warfare. To be fair, Shiro didn’t either, not really, but he had witnessed the capabilities of the Galra firsthand as their prisoner and it wasn’t pretty.

_ ‘Defenders of the Universe… that is a god complex waiting to happen.’  _ She thought to herself as the others looked towards the setting sun in the horizon, naive, unadulterated hope glistening in their eyes.

War was not pretty, and four innocent children were about to be exposed to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual, kudos and comments water my crops and keep me healthy.
> 
> And don't be afraid to come scream at me on my Twitter of the same handle: xAlmasyx

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and suggestions are most welcome, don't be shy!


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